Reports
Actions for Volume Twelve 2015 Part One Trade & Investment and TAFE
Volume Twelve 2015 Part One Trade & Investment and TAFE
Serious system limitations prevented TAFE NSW from providing sufficient and appropriate evidence to support recorded student revenue of $477 million, student receivables and accrued income of $47.6 million and unearned revenue of $398 million.
These limitations resulted in:
- a qualified audit opinion being issued for TAFE NSW;
- delays in enrolling students;
- inability to fully reconcile cash balances;
- difficulties in reconciling student enrolments with revenues recorded in the financial statements;
- large volumes of manual processing.
Actions for Volume Twelve 2015 Part Two Water
Volume Twelve 2015 Part Two Water
The distributions to the NSW Government increased from $690 million in 2013-14 to $1.0 billion in 2014-15. The increase was largely due to a higher dividend from Sydney Water Corporation.
Actions for Volume Eleven 2015 Education and Communities
Volume Eleven 2015 Education and Communities
The number of students enrolled in NSW public schools has increased by over 21,000 during the past five years taking total enrolments in 2014 to 763,698.
While growth in student numbers is concentrated in metropolitan Sydney, enrolments in Northern Sydney increased by 20 per cent in the past ten years.
Actions for Volume Nine 2015 Planning and Environment
Volume Nine 2015 Planning and Environment
The NSW Environment Protection Authority has reduced the average time to assess contaminated sites from 203 days in 2013-14 to 73 days in 2014-15. It is also improving transparency by making more information on its performance publicly available.
In 2014-15, the Department of Planning and Environment increased new housing approvals across New South Wales by 12 per cent to 58,252, exceeding the State priority target of 50,000. It also reduced the time taken to assess major projects from about three years in 2013-14 to four months in 2014-15.
Actions for Identifying productivity in the public sector
Identifying productivity in the public sector
This report examines selected areas of government activity to see if sufficient information was available to identify and assess changes in productivity. The areas examined were primary and secondary school public education, acute inpatient care in NSW public hospitals, CityRail, the NSW Police Force, and the NSW Local Court.
Productivity is commonly defined as the amount of output per unit of input.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #256 - released 16 July 2015
Actions for Implementing performance audit recommendations
Implementing performance audit recommendations
NSW Government agencies have sound processes for implementing performance audit recommendations in Auditor-General’s Reports to Parliament. There are many cases of good practice. For example, some agencies formed a steering committee and developed a detailed plan to implement recommendations. Another incorporated the implementation of recommendations into both its business plan and the work plans of individual officers who were managing projects. Most agencies also used their Audit and Risk Committees to monitor recommendations.
We found some cases where agencies can improve how they coordinate actions to address recommendations. Most agencies were not revisiting these actions to determine whether they remain appropriate.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #254 - released 24 June 2015
Actions for Government advertising 2015
Government advertising 2015
The Government Advertising Act 2011 requires the Auditor-General to conduct an annual performance audit to check NSW Government agency compliance with the Act.
This audit focused on the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s (DPC) role in monitoring government agencies compliance with government advertising requirements, and examined advertising campaigns run by Destination NSW and the Sydney Opera House.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #253 - released 22 June 2015
Actions for Country towns water supply and sewerage program
Country towns water supply and sewerage program
The Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program has effectively promoted adoption of better management practices by local water utilities, but will not achieve its objective of eliminating the water supply and sewerage infrastructure backlog in urban areas of country NSW.
The $1.2 billion Program aims to help local water utilities provide appropriate, affordable, cost effective and well-managed water supply and sewerage services in the urban areas of country NSW. It has two broad elements:
- promoting adoption of better practices
- providing financial assistance towards the capital cost of infrastructure backlog works.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #251 - released 4 May 2015
Actions for Areas of focus from 2014
Areas of focus from 2014
Actions for Vocational education and training reform
Vocational education and training reform
The Department’s framework for VET reform has the potential to effectively achieve the government’s immediate objectives for the reform, which are associated with meeting its commitments under the National Partnership Agreement for Skills Reform without spending more. We found that the government is addressing VET reform objectives in the following order of priority: no extra cost (budget neutrality), TAFE viability, quality VET, access to VET for regions and equity groups, more contestability, student choice. Overall, we conclude that a more balanced approach, by putting more emphasis on increased contestability and student choice, is more likely to maximise the public value for the government’s investment in VET.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #249 - released 29 January 2015